Author: Press Room

Rail Minister Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ The government is close to striking a deal with a shipbuilder to deliver the new Cook Strait ferries. Ferry Holdings – a Crown company set up to buy the ships – has signed a letter of intent with one shipyard and would soon begin the final stage of technical negotiations. The shipyard would be named once the final contracts are signed. However, Rail Minister Winston Peters said it has already agreed to a fixed price, required specifications and a completion date in 2029. The two new ferries will be 200 metres long with room…

Legendary Kiwi band Split Enz will reunite for the first time in almost 20 years. The group were announced as the headliners for next year’s Electric Avenue festival at Christchurch’s Hagley Park in February. It also marks Split Enz’s 50th anniversary.“This is the most historic booking we’ve ever made – it goes far beyond ‘just another headliner’,” festival director Callam Mitchell said. “It’s going to be a cultural landmark event of epic proportions.”Split Enz will headline the festival’s first night on Friday February 27. Also announced on the lineup, to headline the festival’s second night, was Australian house producer and…

Amazon Web Services has officially opened its new Auckland data centres, claiming the move will add 1000 jobs.It has also announced an agreement with the Government to train more than 100,000 people on cloud computing, already more than half way to that goal.The company unveiled the plans in 2021, saying the data centres would open in 2024 – but construction was halted in 2023. As of last December, the plan was to open the data centres this year.Why Labour reckons the PM is pilfering its work, watch on TVNZ+In a statement on Tuesday, it confirmed it was still investing the…

A security technician has lost his licence after accessing and sharing CCTV footage of a serious workplace accident which later went viral on social media.Matthew Armitage, who had held a Certificate of Approval (COA) as a security technican since October 2023, admitted to accessing footage from a client’s security system without permission on his final day of employment.He then distributed the video to two friends, one of whom shared it widely online.The footage captured a serious health and safety incident at a site where he had been installing cameras.The viral clip caused reputational damage to his former employer, their client,…

Lotto has announced a series of changes, as part of a “major” technology upgrade. The changes, announced by the organisation today, included new in-store features and “simplified” spend limits. Under the in-store changes, a single ticket will be printed when Lotto, Powerball and Strike are bought together, meaning triple dips will be on a single ticket. There will be a screen allowing customers to see what they’re buying and an easier way to scan tickets, coupons and MyLotto favourites. Lotto warns of ‘minor disruptions’ – watch on TVNZ+Spend limits will change to a seven-day rolling limit of up to $150…

Competing with massive foreign-owned rivals eventually proved too tough for Smiths City, a Dunedin commercial property investor says. Smiths City Dunedin, which moved to Crawford St this year, was among nine stores that temporarily closed yesterday after the company was placed into voluntary administration. Property investor Jason La Hood, who is also a director of the city’s Golden Centre mall, said the announcement was “very unfortunate” for staff. “If you are in a low-margin business with increasing fixed costs and your competitor is an Australian heavyweight such as Harvey Norman with immense buying power and a strong balance sheet then…

Home appliance and furniture retailer Smiths City has gone into voluntary administration.Administrators are calling for “urgent” expressions of interest for potential buyers of the business. The company was founded in Christchurch in 1918, and currently operates nine physical stores across New Zealand, along with an online store.In a statement, a spokesperson for administrators said Smiths City faced increasing financial pressure in a challenging economic environment.Christchurch-founded entity closes doors while administrators assess the books.  (Source: 1News)“Despite closures of some stores and further downsizing measures, declining sales meant that the director of the company took the decision that trading could no longer…

A police car crashed into a fence in Napier yesterday despite not being en route to an emergency at the time.Police said a single vehicle crash occurred on Geddis Ave at around 11am on Monday.”A police vehicle collided with a fence. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the crash,” a spokesperson told 1News.Police also confirmed the vehicle was not responding to a job when it collided with the fence.Inquiries into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing, which included the damage to the vehicle.

Alliance Group’s board will reduce from nine to to five — three from Dawn Meats and two from Alliance — if shareholders vote to sell a 65% stake to the Irish company. The co-operative would maintain a board of three farmer-elected directors and up to two independents. Alliance’s board had agreed with Dawn Meats that Alliance would maintain decision-making controls “over a number of critical strategic and operational matters in the interests of farmers and staff”, the company said. Last month, Alliance announced the Irish would pay $250 million for a 65% stake in the company, subject to shareholder acceptances,…

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Finance Minister Nicola Willis is “donkey deep” in the Reserve Bank’s leadership turmoil that led to chairperson Neil Quigley’s resignation. The central bank has been besieged for months since former governor Adrian Orr abruptly resigned in March for what was then termed a “personal decision”. Quigley’s resignation late on Friday afternoon came after the Ombudsman forced the institution to release more information about the circumstances around the departure. The former chairperson has been repeatedly accused of mischaracterising the reasons behind why Orr, who had been governor since 2018, left years before the end of his…